IJSTE - International Journal of Science Technology & Engineering | Volume 2 | Issue 1 | July 2015

ISSN (online): 2349-784X

Optimization of Length of Connecting Rod in

Mud Gun Considering Operating Temperature
for Improvement of Taper Roller Bearing Life
Chetan Kamble
PG Student
Department of Production Engineering
V.J.T.I, Matunga

Prof. P.R. Attar

Assistant Professor
Department of Production Engineering
V.J.T.I, Matunga

Abstract
Taper roller bearing is used in swivelling mechanism of mud gun in blast furnace. The operating temperature is more than
normal as it is under the application in blast furnace. Therefore temperature is the important factor which is supposed to be
considered while calculating life of the bearing. Taper bearing is mounted in the pillar of mud gun device which supports the
gun. For normal temperature operation, pillar is supposed to be mounted away from furnace, this will consequent in longer
connecting rod and ultimately more dynamic load on bearing. For this reason, optimization in operating temperature bearing and
length of connecting rod is necessary.
Keywords: Tapered Roller Bearing, Operating Condition Adjustment Factor, Life of Bearing, Mud Gun
________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I. INTRODUCTION
Bearing life refers to the total number of revolutions (or time period) a bearing performs satisfactorily under stated conditions
before failure. In general, based on the operating conditions the scope of the bearing life is defined. The life of a bearing is
specified by L10 life which is defined as the total number of revolutions in million. The operating load and operating
temperature are the prime factors in estimating the life in this case. Life in millions of revolutions is given by,
( )
Where Lna is the rated life in millions of revolution;
is the reliability adjustment factor;
is the material adjustment factor;
is the operating condition adjustment factor; C is the basic dynamic load rating in Newton; P is the equivalent dynamic load
in Newton; p is 3 for ball bearings and 10/3 for roller bearing.
There are several other parameters like improper selection of bearing for a given application, inadequate lubrication, improper
installation, excessive loading/preloading, vibrations, impact loading, environmental factors like corrosive media, temperature,
contaminated environment that can cause a bearing to fail before its predicted life time and are classified as premature failures.
The failure modes of a bearing, besides fatigue, include plastic flow, fracture, wear, corrosion and electrical pitting
In present study, the operating condition(temperature) and the dynamic load applied on bearing is considered.

II. METHODOLOGY
The temperature and length of connecting rod are the factors which are going to be considered in this experiment. As the length
of connecting rod will increase, it will lead to increase in dynamic load on bearing. This will ultimately affect the life of bearing.
On the other side, if we decrease the length of connecting rod, it will lead to increase in working temperature of the bearing. At
more temperature, the life of bearing will be reduced.
The temperature of surroundings of furnace is measured at regular interval of distances. The loads acting on bearing is
calculated at different lengths of connecting rod. The operating condition adjustment factor is taken from catalogue at respective
temperature. With above data, life of bearing is calculated at different lengths of connecting rod.

III. RESULT
Life of bearing is initially increasing with increase in length of connecting rod as the operating temperature of the bearing is
reducing. At a particular point, the life of bearing is maximum and beyond that point, again life started falling due to increase in
load on bearing.
Table 1
Life for respective length

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Optimization of Length of Connecting Rod in Mud Gun Considering Operating Temperature for Improvement of Taper Roller Bearing Life
(IJSTE/ Volume 2 / Issue 1 / 009)

Length of connecting rod (mm)

3000
3500
4000
4500
5000

Life of bearing (million of revolutions)

57.96
92.46
104.05
93.98
85.15

Fig. 1: Graph Life of bearing Vs Length of connecting rod

IV. DISCUSSION
For better life, the operating condition of bearing is supposed to be normal. The surrounding temperature of the bearing must be
maintained at normal temperature to maintain the viscosity of lubricating oil in order to get better performance. If temperature is
close to normal temperature, better will be the viscosity and ultimately performance of the bearing. In this case, as we take
bearing away from the furnace, the operating temperature of bearing reduces, but the load acting on bearing increases with
increase in the length of connecting rod. The paper is about optimization between operating temperature and length of
connecting rod in order to get best life of bearing. As we can see in the graph, from length 3000 mm to 4000mm, life of bearing
is increasing gradually. At length 4000mm, life is maximum and beyond it, life started reducing. It shows, 4000mm is optimum
length of connecting rod for maximum life of bearing.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I would like to acknowledge with much appreciation the crucial role of Mr. K.S.N. Ramesh, Dy. Manager, Blast furnace, Bhilai
Steel Plant for their valuable comments, sharing, time and knowledge on the research carried out during this project.

REFERENCES
[1] Harris TA, Kotzalas MN. Essential concepts of bearing technology. USA: Taylor & Francis; 2007.
[2] http://www.nbcbearings.in/nbcpdf/TechnicalCatalogue2012.pdf.
[3] K. Gurumoorthy, Arindam Ghosh Failure investigation of a taper roller bearing: A case study
[4] R.S. Khurmi, Applied Mechanics; 2004

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